This invention relates generally to writing instruments, and more particularly to a novel writing instrument which includes a self-closure.
Numerous kinds of writing instruments are presently available on the market. For example, the relatively inexpensive felt-tip or plastic-tip "marker" pens enjoy a wide popularity. Ball-point pens, which have been available for many years, are also widely sold, and increasingly popular are roller pens, which combine features of fountain pens and fiber tip pens in a tip which operates on a ball-point principle. Traditional liquid reservoir fountain pens retain a measure of popularity, and other liquid ink types of pens are also used for drafting and technical applications.
Inadvertent contact with the tips of any of the above types of writing instruments is undesirable for obvious reasons, and, accordingly, provision is usually made for protection of the tip. This is typically done by the provision of caps, or sometimes, in the case of conventional ball-points, by providing a mechanism for retractability.
The use of caps involves a degree of inconvenience and risk of loss, and with some types of instruments, the loss of the cap means, for all practical purposes, that the instrument itself can no longer be used.
It is a general object of this invention, therefore, to provide a writing instrument which is provided with an integral, non-separable self-closure. Other specific objects will appear hereinafter.
The general and other objects of this invention are realized, in a presently preferred form of the invention, by a writing instrument provided with the usual barrel, a writing tip disposed in the barrel, and a closure comprising a plurality of segment members having tapered lower end portions which come together to form a hollow protective enclosure for the writing tip. Closure actuating means are provided for moving the segment members in relation to the barrel between a first position in which the segment members are operatively disposed and another position in which the segment members are retracted so as to permit exposure of the writing tip. In present contemplation, the writing tip may itself be retractable, so that when the self-closure is in its retracted position, the writing tip may be projected from the barrel for use.